Thoughtworks is an Information Technology consultancy which started in Chicago and now has offices all over the world. This year they’ve been running some interesting events called Quarterly Briefings which discuss topical technology, with the help of some case studies.

Renee pointed out twenty-somethings often have the best ideas, innovation comes fromGeneration Y. Senior staff, decision makers and leaders in many organisations are often baby boomers or Generation-Xers. When they think of software applications, they often think of web first, then mobile. The current generation of undergraduates and graduates from our Universities were born after the invention of the web. They aren’t just born digital [1,2], they’re born mobile too, iPhones and Androids aren’t new – they’re just normal. Desktops and web-applications are old school to them, its tablets and mobile smartphones where all the action is – that’s what many of them are now growing up with. So it shouldn’t be surprising that Generation Y often have good ideas in science & technology.

Renee also talked about doing agile vs. being agile: many organisations claim to be doing agile software development: they have the stand-up daily scrum meetings, kanban boards covered in post-it notes and practice pair-programming but they’re often just ticking the boxes – they’re not actually able to deploy software quickly. They look agile, but really they are doing agile, not actually being agile.

What caused the summer riots of 2011 in the UK? Many reasons have been suggested and a long list of possible causes has been drawn up over the summer. The baby boomer generation should be added to the list of suspects. It is the baby boomers, those born roughly between 1945-1965, that caused the riots – it’s mostly their fault [1].

Blame it on the government. Twenty years of Labour rule under Blair/Brown followed a year of Cameron’s coalition. Depending on your political persuasion, it is all the current / previous governments fault the UK is falling to pieces.

Blame it on the parents or lack of them. Irresponsible parents let their children run riot, if you believe what you read in the newspapers.

Blame it on the baby boomers, they stole their children’s future and they’re not giving it back. Just ask David Willetts MP, he’s written a book all about them [1]. In a nutshell, the book describes how the baby boomers took all the houses, jobs, cheap education, welfare, free health care and decent pensions. To add insult to injury, they undervalue the claims of future generations (Generation X and Generation Y) by spending their kids inheritance (aka S.K.I.-ing). Should it be so surprising that their disgruntled sons, daughters and grandchildren were rioting on the streets?

It is hard to conclusively prove that any of these suspects are guilty as charged because the causes of rioting are complex. However, it seems likely that the unequal wealth and influence of baby boomers was a contributing factor in the UK riots. You can read all about it in Mr Willett’s intriguing book [1,2].